Star-Ledger file photo
Donald Driver, the winner of last season's 'Dancing with the Stars' competition performs with his partner Peta Murgatroyd. This season, Peta is partnering actor Gilles Marini.

The quickstep Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson performed Monday night on 'Dancing with the Stars' broke all the rules, but still managed to wow the judges.

She and partner Derek Hough performed unauthorized tricks, mixed dance styles and broke hold mid performance, all of which are big no-no's in the early rounds of the long-running show. Still, the audience loved it and even the judges stood to celebrate the pair's creativity.

"Your ability to interpret music into movement is incredible," said judge Len Goodman. "I'll have to drop you a point, but I've never enjoyed a routine more."

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba displayed her feelings about Johnson's performance by kicking her high-heeled feet into the air and proclaiming that the pair "made her go happy feet." Judge Bruno Tonioli awarded the pair a 9.5, the highest score of the competition, and branded the dance one of the best he has seen on 15 seasons of 'Dancing with the Stars.'

In spite of all that praise, the 26.5 combined score awarded to Johnson for her quickstep was not the highest score of the night. Reality TV star Melissa Rycroft and soap opera actress Kelly Monaco both earned scores of 27 for their respective samba and paso doble performances.

Last week, Goodman challenged the stars to up the ante in this all-star season and reinvent iconic dances from past seasons with new twists. Some contestants used pyrotechnics, one used models on the ballroom floor and another tried to incorporate a live donkey into his performance. The freightened donkey, however, had to be escorted from the set.

The judges praised Rycroft for the sound technique she displayed in her samba with partner Tony Dovolani. Goodman said the routine was a "knock out" because it was "refreshing and satisfying." They said Monaco's firey paso doble surprised them, declaring Monaco and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy "the couple to watch."

"Where did that come from?" Goodman said. "Your arms have to be as expressive as your face nad that's what we got in this performance. Where have you been?

One sign that the competition this season is as fierce as ever is the small margin of points that separate the top of the leader board from the bottom. This week, the highest score earned was a 27, while the lowest score earned was a 22.5. Most of the contestants this week earned scores of 25.5.

For Bristol Palin, a score of 22.5 out of 30 is something to be proud of. That is her highest scores of the competition and came after a fight with partner Mark Ballas. Days after he skipped a scheduled practice, Palin accused him of wishing he had a more talented partner. Goodman said Palin channeled her frustration into her paso doble.

"Your lines were better than ever. You looked better than ever," Tonioli siad.

Tune in to ABC tonight at 8 p.m. to find out which two couples will be eliminated from the competition.